Thunderstorms
by Moon's Fallen Child
Summary: Sakuno has always been terrified of storms, even before she moved into her grandmothers home. But their knd neighbor has taken it upon himself to protect her in secret.But he finds, as they grow older, there are more dangerous things than the thunder.


**Prologue**

Sakuno stared resolutely at the ground, her face bright red in the face of so many people around her. Though, she was saved major embarrassment due to the fact that the boys before her were focused on what her grandmother had to say. The boys, of course, were the Seigaku Tennis Team Regulars, and currently, they were listening to their coach – her grandmother – give orders for them to come by later that evening so that the regulars could review videos of their playing styles and to observe other players that were suppose to be in the championship this year. And therein lie the root of her nervousness. Tonight, all of the regulars would be at her house. All night.

The thought made her blush more. And her grandmother dragging attention to her due to her inattentiveness made her blush even more. She wondered, as she followed her grandmother to their house that lay only a few blocks from the school, whether she suffered from some disorder that caused her to blush and whether her heavy blushing would ever cause her to pass out. As of now, it hadn't happened yet.

She sighed and jogged to catch up to the brisk pace of her grandmother, shaking her thoughts on slight anxiety issue. She had bigger things to worry about, such as what she would cook while the others talked tennis. She smiled as she thought about the different things she could make, once more drifting off to her thoughts, her grandmother left to smile and shake her head as she looked back at her dazed granddaughter.

=^.^=

"Here you go, Tezuka-senpai." Said young man looked up from his sitting position to the petite, younger girl standing to his side. He glanced once more to his team absorbed in watching the screen displaying a match featuring Momoshiro before looking back to the girl. He carefully took the cup from her, mindful of the hot liquid within the teacup. With the cup securely in his hands, he bowed slightly.

"Arigato, Ryuzaki-san." She gave a small smile before hastily turning – wobbly as usual – and returning to the sanctuary of the kitchen. He looked after her until she disappeared, where he took a sip of his tea. He gave a brief, incredibly small smile before he returned to his stoic face. The tea was made exactly to his liking. As usual. He turned back to the screen.

=^.^=

It was late, perhaps one in the morning, when the storm began. A streak of lightning lit up the room to reveal a small figure huddled in the corner of the room in fright. A clap of thunder had the figure whimpering softly into her knees in fright. This was the scene the tennis captain walked into.

Bleary eyed with sleep, he had stumbled his way to her room when the lightning and thunder began. It had been this way since the first time they had met when she came from the orphanage with her grandmother.

_Flashback:_

They were neighbors, and his window peered straight through her window. That first night she was home, a raging storm had begun and, from his window, he had been able to see her huddled in a corner in fright, arms over her head protectively. A large tree stood between their rooms, it's upper branches a light canopy from the heavy downpour. So, gathering his courage, he had climbed out his window at the tender age of nine years and navigated across the branches until he was crouched outside her window, wrestling said window to allow him entrance to her room.

He had crawled quietly into her room, snatching the blanket off the bed and walking over to her small, whimpering frame. She glanced up with terrified, curious eyes to lock onto his stoic ones. A flash of lightning followed closely by a clap of raging thunder had her burying her head once more into her knees. He sighed and crouched before her, a corner of the blanket still held in his hand.

"Why are you all the way over here? Wouldn't the bed be more comfortable?" She mumbled something, face still down. "I didn't catch that." Her big brown eyes peeked out from her knees, her slight frame trembling in fright. Her eyes shifted to the bed before moving back to him.

"I-it's to c-close to the w-window." He blinked down at her before also looking to the bed, noticing it's position beside the window. Still looking at the bed, he once more spoke softly.

"Under the bed is probably safer and warmer than this corner." He looked back over at her form pressed tightly to the wall as she awaited the next clap of lightning and thunder.

"It's d-d-dark and s-scary under there." He stared down at her, considering if he should get the girl's grandmother. As another clap of thunder had her hiding her face once more though, he made his decision. Standing quickly, he held out a hand, making sure that he still held the blanket with him. She looked up at him in confusion.

"Come on, before the next one comes." Quickly understanding, she took his hand nervously and let him pull her up. He stared down at her for just a moment, noting that she gripped his hand tighter and that the top of her head barely reached his shoulders. Quickly, he turned and pulled her over to the bed by her hand, feeling her shaking increasing with each step closer to the storm. Standing beside the bed, he motioned for her to go first.

"B-but…" He shook his head and snatched a pillow off the bed. Hastily pushing it into her empty hands, he put his hands on her shoulders, pushing her down to the ground.

"It's alright, I'll be with you the whole time. Trust me." Her eyes snapped up to him and he was surprised by the complete and utter shock that shone from her eyes. He blinked and pushed her, wanting to forget the moment, it being too confusing for his young mind. Getting the message, she crawled under the small space below her bed, dragging the pillow with her. Once settled, she placed the pillow under her head on one side, allowing the rest of the pillow to belong to the kind young boy who had climbed through her window to comfort her. Once she settled, he climbed under with the blanket, swiftly and efficiently tucking the blanket around the both of them.

They lay there for only a moment, staring at each other in the dark, before a strike of lightning lit up the room, a boom of thunder immediately following it. Tezuka was surprised at how fast the girl moved as she buried her face into his chest, wrapping her thin arms around his neck, a whimper once more escaping from her mouth. Carefully, as if she would break, he curled his body around her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and waist, his face dug in her hair.

"My name is Tezuka Kunimitsu. I'm your neighbor." It took her a moment to answer, another clap of thunder shaking the house. Her arms tightened around him and she snuggled deeper into his arms before she spoke.

"M-my name is R-ryuzaki S-sakuno. I just m-moved in. It's v-very n-nice to meet you T-tezuka-san."

"It's very nice to meet you too, Ryuzaki-chan." And so the two remained that way all through the night.

_Flashback End_

The girl looked up with big eyes at the young man in her doorway. He sighed as he locked eyes with her, closing the door softly behind him before walking over to her. He held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. She did so with a tremble, allowing him to once more pull her up. She stuck close to his side as they made their way over to the bed. They took the pillow and blanket off and crouched as one. Like those five years ago when this all started, she climbed under first and quickly arranged the pillow. She looked back to the opening of the bed and watched as the older boy squeezed his way under the bed. With difficulty, he pulled the blanket around them. As the next thunder rumbled, all nervousness was forgotten and she buried herself into her senpai's arms. And like those many years ago, he held her close as the storm raged on.


End file.
